From the time he’s a small boy, a son will try anything to please his father. “Daddy, Daddy!… look at me!… look at me!”, he might scream from the diamond during little league, or the soccer pitch, or whatever other endeavor he’s attempting at the time. The look of extreme happiness forming on the boy’s face coupled with the immense high he gets from his swelling emotions, when he sees his father’s proud smile of appreciation at his efforts. He’ll happily follow closely behind his dad like a little lost puppy every chance he gets. Maybe while dad putters around the house, or in the garage, or even maybe that time is spent doing odd jobs around the house, or fixing up an old car together on a Saturday morning. But whatever it is they do together, a boy of that age just feels happy to be with his dad, the recognition he gets, or simply feeling the connection they share, when dad asks for a tool. More special though, is those moments of conspiratorially shared guilt over doing something naughty, which makes their relationship so much more than something ordinary. Moments like when a dad tells his boy a dirty joke, or lets him in on some of the more adult topics he needs to know.

Time invariably moves on however, the son starts to grow up and he’s no longer that little boy anymore. His body starts to change and with it goes his attitudes. Most times a boy’s feelings about his father will never change, no matter how they started to begin with, but as he grows into that purgatory place known officially as adolescence, those feelings get hidden and sometimes pretty deep. This can be a very confusing time for fathers, having long since forgotten what it was like to be that age themselves. Now Dad starts to look at his boy as if he’s only now seeing his son for the very first time. It’s at that time, where it’s the most dangerous with their relationship, when both parties start to look at each other in judgment. A son looks at his dad and wonders if that’s where he’ll end up, all the while the dad looks back at his son, wondering if he’s doing a good enough job. Regardless of how well he may or may not have turned out, dad begins to think about whether he’s produced someone just like himself, someone better, or someone worse. Whether or not his boy, that’s now developing into a young man, will someday give him grandchildren that he can play with at the park, or will follow him diligently around the garage.

Most of the time, all those questions turn out to come up with good answers. The son making the dad proud, maybe by being the star quarter-back, or league winning pitcher, or depending on the dad in question, the high school’s valedictorian. He’ll go off to college, graduate with good grades and find a good job, before settling down with the woman he loves to raise a family. Sadly though, sometimes those answers come up short and the father comes to realize, the son he enjoyed as a little boy, no longer, or simply doesn’t meet their expectations as a young man. While the good fathers may say it doesn’t really matter, deep down they feel uncertain. Laying awake at nights always agonizing over what they may or may not have done wrong, constantly feeling like they’ve somehow failed in their job as a father, the only job they’ve ever had that was worth any real value to the future. Then there is the other Fathers, the ones that feel like they’ve done everything they could, becoming bitter and spiteful at what they see as their son’s failure. Only two things happen with those ones, they either become cold and distant, or they become violent and abusive, either way, there is little chance the son has to be happy.

Sometimes a son can see it in his Dad’s eyes, maybe it’s that first moment over dinner when the dad looks over at him, wondering when his boy went wrong, or maybe it’s just that he doesn’t like what his son has become. The boy though, more often than not and whether he realizes it or not, is the one who feels like he’s failed, because in their minds at least, good fathers don’t fail their children. It’s even worse if the son has siblings, regardless of whether they’re older or younger. The only thing that matters is how they turn out, and if they turn out to be carbon copies of their dads, well, that just makes it harder on the son in question. The extreme hurt he feels when he sees the pride and admiration his dad feels while looking at the brother or even when he’s just talking about him. The absolute and final pain he endures, when he realizes his dad will never feel the same way about him. That alone, is often enough reason to cause a rift which can never be repaired.

All this can be very confusing and painful for the dad too, wondering how one son could turn out to be so successful, while another turns out to be a complete failure in his eye’s. Maybe he still loves him, most of the good ones do, always wondering where he went wrong. But the thing is and again, more often than not, he didn’t go wrong, for some reason over the years, his son just went another way. He isn’t wrong, he isn’t right, he’s just the way he is and would have been no matter what his dad did. The simple fact of the matter is, is that he would have been who he was no matter what anyone did, that’s just how these things are. This is when the confusion really sets in and to those fathers who aren’t as caring or accepting of the way their son turns out, their own bitterness can cause some real damage. None more so, than when the son doesn’t feel that he has done anything wrong or that he is in any way a failure. Sure, he may be small, or he may be large, or even just not very athletic, but that shouldn’t be the only standards by which a Dad judges a son. Children should never have to go through life always being compared to their fathers, or worse, their siblings, that simply is just not fair to anyone.

Sadly, this of course, was all moot now to Tyler Ascot, as he tried desperately hard not to let the rough concrete graze his naked knees or elbows. Because, simply put, Tyler didn’t really have a father anymore anyway. The father that he did have while he was growing up, wasn’t necessarily one of the bad ones, but by the same token, he wasn’t a particularly good one either. Poor Tyler had tried his very hardest over the years to be accepted by his father, he did his chores without question, he worked hard in school and sports, but nothing had worked. His father wasn’t bad in that he beat him, or abused him in any way for that matter, he was just cold, distant and unemotional towards his son. A son that was always just a complete and total disappointment to him. Tyler was short and probably always would be, his build was slight and although it was perfect for soccer, it wasn’t for football, which was his father’s favorite sport.

Whatever it was that Tyler lacked in physical prowess, he more than made up for in mental acuity and a grace that would have been better suited to a dancer. Sadly though, in his father’s opinion, that just made him a sissy and one that was always far too smart for his own good. Tyler had always been a stunningly attractive child, even from birth, with longish soft silky light brown hair, a perfect soft complexion and the most intensely pretty dark chocolate brown eyes, that too was a very sore bone of contention between himself and his father, even though he’d never really understood why. You see, Tyler had been gifted the look of his mother, something that his father had hated ever since she had walked out on him when Tyler was a small boy. Though he hated her for doing it, what he had hated the most, was that she had saddled him with a kid he’d never wanted in the first place. Consequently, that resentment that had built steadily over the years, certainly wasn’t helped by the fact that he could see her looking back at him every time he looked at his son.

Poor Tyler really had no chance and none of it was his fault, he would look at other families at the park, or on TV and wonder why his life was so different, why his dad seemed to feel nothing for him, why he was so cold. In fact, the only time his father had shown any real emotion towards him, that he could remember, was when he came home early from work one day and walked in on Tyler and his then best friend, in a very compromising position. That was the day their relationship was well and truly over. Tyler’s father went into a fit of rage smashing up his room before kicking him out of the house, the boy was barely able to grab some clothes and a backpack to put them in. His friend was almost not so lucky, but managed to get away in the end. His problem was that his own parents were extremely religious and if they found out, he would probably end up in the same position.

That mattered little to Tyler though, at the time, because his primary concern was survival. His best friend, because he was still his best friend even after what had happened, and his other friends came in handy for that. He was able to survive for a few weeks, staying over at their houses, though he did move on every day or two, just incase their parents became suspicious. Having developed a knack to do so, Tyler always knew when that time was coming, he knew the look and listened for the right questions. After a couple of days, they always seemed to want to know if he’d talked to his dad, which usually meant that they’d talked to him and knew what a dirty little queer he was. Tyler was always sure that once they knew that, they wouldn’t want him anywhere near their own son, so that was always the question which said it was time to move on. What he didn’t know, was that some of those parents would have gladly helped him, even if they had known, the trouble was, he couldn’t take that chance.

Over the course of the next few months, Tyler had pretty much worn out his welcome all over town and when that well of opportunity invariably dried up, he had no choice but to start sleeping rough. He did his best to hide it, taking showers at school, washing his clothes in shabby park bathrooms, and eating out of dumpsters when he could find something that might pass for food. He’d even managed to sneak back inside his old house a few times for some supplies and more clothes, though there wasn’t much he could salvage by then. Of course that was only when his dad wasn’t home, but even that stopped pretty quickly too after only the few times he’d managed it, when he discovered his dad had changed all the locks. He still made it to school everyday though, knowing that his future was important, but if any of his teachers noticed the decline in his appearance, they either didn’t care, or just simply weren’t able to intercede on his behalf. After all, as far as they were concerned, he was always on time and so was his homework.

Over the course of those months of rough living, the then nearly thirteen year old Tyler learned a new trade, one that was particularly dangerous, but one that seems all to common when you get desperate enough. It all started with something pretty simple, Tyler was once again in a park bathroom, washing out his clothes in the cleanest sink he could find. It was late at night, so he thought he could get away with taking most of his clothes off, though not bothering with his tattered old boxer shorts, having rinsed them out at school. So it was that first time, that a near naked Tyler was found by a drunken man, who just happened to pick that very same bathroom to stumble into. A man who was suddenly and instantly feeling particularly amorous towards the very cute near naked young man with the ‘dear in the headlights’ look in front of him. So much so that, that night, he cast all inhibitions aside and offered the boy twenty dollars for some fun.

Though Tyler was instantly scared and not just for his life, he was very hungry and the twenty sounded extremely good to him, as long as he didn’t have to go to far that is. Unfortunately, the poor boy had next to no idea what he was getting himself into and the guy in question, turned out to be not overly gentle. Tyler’s luck was holding out for him that night, however, and though he really tried, the guy was too drunk to be of any real threat to what little innocence Tyler hadn’t quite lost yet. As soon as it was over, he tried desperately not to think too much about any of it, just glad to have the money and his body and mind still intact, so he quickly gathered up his meager belongings and ran.

Tyler didn’t know how long, or how far he’d run that night, but as soon as he felt the coast was clear, he stopped to dress before taking the money to an all night diner he knew on the other side town. Sitting down to what was the first real meal that he’d had in months, was very exciting, almost exciting enough to block out the image of the man’s semi hard penis, that he’d had to suck for it. He was so glad that the man couldn’t finish, but the whole experience had taught him a very valuable, if extremely dangerous lesson. That lesson was as simple as any from the start of time, Tyler was too young and inexperienced to get any kind of real job, but now he knew that he did have something that people wanted, something he could trade off of for something warm and fresh to eat. A slippery slope he was sure that it was, but one he was suddenly prepared to risk, his very young mind convinced by the hot steamy burger and fries now sitting in front of him, that it was worth the risk. He was especially convinced when, after he finished his meal and gone into the bathroom for a pee, he managed to earn another quick twenty dollars.

Tyler’s new found vocation started out, like he guessed many boys did in that situation, turning one trick a night, sometimes two if he felt brave or comfortable enough and only so that he could go to school on a full stomach, with clean clothes that he was now able to wash in a Laundromat. He was still sleeping rough, but he’d managed to find an old abandoned tenement building, so that at least now he had a roof over his head while he slept. However, the stress of what he was doing and all those late nights were starting to have an affect on his normal and what he tried very hard to maintain, completely separate day life. Because he was growing quickly now, having just hit a small growth spurt, very soon he was working most of the night to get enough money for new clothes and shoes. Luckily by that stage, school was out for the summer, so he had plenty of time for what he needed to do. No one seemed to miss him during that time either, the friends he had from his past having long since left him behind, or just simply left him, after they found out his secret.

Tyler wasn’t the only boy around though, that became very clear as the summer weeks wore on, in fact there were several and he became much more cautious because of it. What Tyler didn’t know, however, was that where there’s boys working, there’s older boys or men working them even harder to perform. A rather distasteful fact he discovered somewhat abruptly one night when, as he got out of the car of his latest trick, he was set upon by a heavy thuggish looking twenty something. The conversation was pretty short and mostly to the tune of, ‘If you wanna work around here you gotta pay your cut like everyone else, or you’re gonna get your pretty little face cut up and you get nuthin!’.

Of course, that wasn’t all that was said, that was just the verbal part. The poor little guy took several nasty hits as well, as if the thug wanted to give some sense of punctuation to the aforementioned statement. All in all, it had the desired effect too, as the thug knew it would, because Tyler didn’t work for the next few nights and really was scared shitless by the whole incident. It was only his streetwise mind doing everything it could to keep his spirit running, and finally he put the ‘time off’ down to a need to recover from his injuries. Being the smart boy that he was, he now knew that his days there were numbered, so he didn’t stick around much longer after he did recover. Never once did he think he was alone in what he was doing, but he’d never met a pimp before and in his naivety he hadn’t even considered it was a business to some people, besides he’d thought only girls had those anyway. But, what happened to him that night was certainly a big shock to his system, one of those bubble bursting ones. Therefore, out of his need to survive, as soon as he was able to, Tyler ran.

Packing up his still somewhat meager belongings into the new backpack he’d bought for that very purpose that afternoon, he started to feel a little sad at his situation. Though he’d been very careful even to the point of being frugal with his money, he had finally outgrown everything he’d owned from his former life. Because of that and that he’d really wanted a complete fresh start at the time, he’d gone out and purchased all new clothes. Nothing flashy, just simple t-shirts and polo’s of various colors, a couple of nice shirts for working, a few pairs of jeans, some shorts, a couple of hoodies, and of course the obligatory underwear and socks, he’d also bought two pair of new skate shoes. Again, he didn’t go flashy, the last thing he wanted was to stand out in a crowd, he just wanted to blend in and not be noticed.

The problem was, when it all came down to it, although he really knew it was impossible, he still held out some small hope of reconciliation with his father. His father was after all, the only real family he had, and even though their relationship wasn’t the greatest at the best of times, he was still very reluctant to throw away all ties to a past he so dearly missed. In the end however, fear won out over the possibility of happiness and once he’d located all the cash he’d hidden around the building for emergencies, he began preparing to hitch a ride to the next town over. Before he left though, he did swing past his old house. He’d hoped to maybe catch a glimpse of his dad and in so doing, maybe his dad would catch a glimpse of him, maybe Tyler wouldn’t have to worry anymore. Or at least, that’s what he was holding onto at the time. Sadly, those thoughts burst wide open, because when he turned the corner onto his street, he saw some kids that he didn’t know at all, playing in what should have been his front yard. Great sadness near overwhelmed him all of a sudden but, with curiosity piqued, he decided to sit a while and observe.

Over the next hour or so, as he watched the two boys play their boyish games, in his minds eye he started to catch flashes of all those times when he’d done the very same things with his own friends. So much so, that after not too long, a strange sense of nostalgia started to creep over him at the whole scene. That of course, completely pushed his mind into overload and he began to cry for what he’d lost. Consumed by his own grief, Tyler never heard the man approach, he hadn’t even noticed the two young boys had stopped playing and were staring at him intently.

“Are you all right son?” He’d said, reaching out to comfort the boy.

Out of fear Tyler recoiled, a small tentative “No… I’m… fine…” was all he was able to get out. His fear soon dissipated though, and as his confidence returned he’d asked, while pointing to the house that had once been his home, “Do you live there?”

“Yeah… we bought the place about a month ago… why?”

“Um… no reason… do you know what happened to the guy that used to live there?”

“No idea really… sorry… the sale was handled through a realtor and we never saw him… are you sure you’re ok?”

“Um… yeah I’m fine… um… thanks… see ya…” Tyler had said, as he got up and ran before the guy could stop him.

And run he did, crying most of the way, but his little legs pumped like they never had before and he didn’t stop once until he hit the town boundary line. Luck was on his side that day and he managed to pick up a ride fairly quickly, when a big purple truck spotted him on the side of the road and pulled over, good thing too because all that time he’d spent watching his old house that afternoon had really eaten into the day. He was also fortunate, in that the ride he got was able to take him all the way to the next town, he’d even managed to get a few dollars out of the trucker for a small favor in the back of the cab about half way through their journey. What Tyler hadn’t really thought about though, but was prepared for nonetheless, was the fact that he had absolutely no where to sleep that night. Again, the trucker helped him out, by setting him up with a room in the long term cabin he’d rented at a campground on the far edge of town.

The trucker was a caring man and that night, with a hot fresh meal in their bellies and a warm real bed to sleep in, both man and boy spent a wonderful evening together. To Tyler, it definitely made a difference to be with someone who was gentle with and respectful of him. So much so, that as he fell asleep in the burly man’s arms, he sobbed quietly over feelings he’d never experienced before. For his part, the trucker just held the boy even tighter, almost regretting what they’d shared with each other, not even sure when the strong cocky kid he’d picked up had become the fragile broken little thing is his arms. Tyler was a little scared at first, when he felt the arms tighten, but just as quickly he started to relax and very soon began to feel safer than he had in a long time. Though he knew he was kidding himself, he almost felt as though he was loved right then, so much so, that when the man left the next day, he seriously considered going with him. But he was a smart boy and he decided it was best if he stayed out of sight for a while, even though no one knew who or what he was. After all, he was barely thirteen at the time and when he thought about it seriously over breakfast, he wondered what a life on the road could really offer him, deciding he was much better off just staying put.

Before he’d left, the trucker made sure that Tyler knew he could stay at the cabin for a while, but also warned him that if he was caught, then he was on his own. This suited Tyler rather well at first, he’d gone out that first day under the guise of getting some groceries, but what he’d really been doing was scoping the lay of the land. He still had a considerable amount of cash saved up, but Tyler was a smart boy, he knew that wouldn’t last too long. What he needed was to find a safe place with which to advertise his wares, but he wasn’t going to just go out and start again in what was obviously someone else’s turf, he now knew he needed to make some connections before he could do that. He also knew the best places to start were diner’s and pool halls. Though he hadn’t seen any pool halls he had seen a diner that looked good, across the other side of town, as they’d drove in the day before. The best thing about the place, he remembered, was that it was a little off the beaten track, just perfect for what the enterprising young man had in mind.

A few days later, Tyler made his move, he’d decided to take a bus, because after checking the schedule, he thought it would be easier, not to mention safer. He got off the bus half an hour later and about a hundred yards short of his destination, thinking that that would give him time to see if there was anyone else around. As he walked across the street towards, but not directly at the diner in question, he checked left and right for a way out if there was trouble, feeling extremely nervous, because the area he was in looked a lot more run-down than he’d remembered. Still being careful , he stopped outside the place for a moment and leaned back against the outside wall, before taking a surreptitious glance in all directions. The absolute last thing he wanted, was a repeat performance if he was on someone else’s turf, but after he was satisfied that he was in the clear, for the moment at least, he took a quick glance inside. Though he couldn’t be completely sure, he had counted at least five patrons, three men, a woman and what appeared to be her child, all sitting at different tables. The rest of the place appeared to be empty.

Taking a deep calming breath to sooth his nerves, he walked inside. “Don’t look at them, don’t even talk to them if you don’t have to… just mind your own business and let them come to you”, he thought as he went over to the counter. Tyler smiled sweetly at the waitress, it never hurt to get them on side, before purchasing a slice of what looked like an apple and strawberry pie with a glass of coke to wash it down, then went over to sit at an empty table near the window. More nervous than he ever had been before, this was the first time he’d done this in a while and his heart thumped powerfully in his chest, as he sipped the coke and munched on his pie. He knew he couldn’t stay there too long, but then he wasn’t in any real hurry either, knowing it would happen or it wouldn’t and then it did, but not quite in the way he hoped.

“Is this seat taken?” a voice said, from beside him.

The voice sounded okay and when Tyler looked up, he saw it belonged to a decent looking guy of a little under six feet tall and what appeared to be late twenties, carrying a cup of coffee and a strong warm smile. He was dressed in nice jeans, a clean shirt and decent shoes, obviously blue collar, but with the look of some money about him.

“It is now, I guess.” Tyler said, trying not to sound too uninterested.

Taking this as a good sign, the man sat down on the bench seat across from him. Several seconds passed in silence, but when Tyler took a quick glance, he could tell he had a fish on the line.

“Everything ok?” the man asked, smiling.

“Sure… so… you looking for some fun?” Tyler replied.

In answer to his question, the man just gave Tyler a disturbingly conspiratorial grin and said, “My car’s just round the corner… ok?”

Tyler nodded, then watched him as he got up to leave, finishing the last of his coke quickly, he got up a minute or two later and followed him. Panic struck him dumb for a second, when he realized he hadn’t seen which way the guy had gone, but as he looked around, he saw he was standing on the corner a few yards away staring at him strangely. As Tyler approached him, he walked round the corner into an alley, which ran along the other side of the diner and that also served as extra parking. Tyler saw a flash from the turn signal lights on a well preserved, but definitely old Chevy van parked a few spaces in. Without any fanfare, or clandestine action, the man just got into the driver’s seat, almost as if he was untouchable, like he’d done it all day everyday. This alone was enough to give Tyler some pause, the van, the guy, something just didn’t feel right all of a sudden. Then the horn sounded, shaking him out of his reverie a couple of seconds later and Tyler got into the passenger side next to him. Sedately pulling out of the space, the van moved smoothly away.

“You’re good kid… careful… I like that… but you must be new around here.” The man said, “Good to meet you though… you have a name?”

“Um… Tyler… um… what did you mean by all that?” the boy replied.

“Well hey Tyler… sweet name by the way… mine’s Chris…” the man said. “It must be my lucky day… how old are you anyways?”

“Thirteen.” Tyler said, very confused at how the guy’s attitude was changing, all the while becoming very concerned because of it.

The van wound its way through a veritable maze of backstreets and being new to town, poor Tyler didn’t have any idea where he was, or even in which direction they were headed. He had thought at first, that they’d been going back towards the campground, but corner after corner, he soon stopped recognizing anything of value and was totally lost. Little did he know that, that was Chris’ plan right from the very beginning. Concern soon gave way to fear moments later, when Tyler realized that the guy had deliberately stopped talking, and as that realization hit, he looked out of the windscreen only to find that they’d traveled so far, they were now completely out of town.

“Look sir… I don’t mean to sound rude…” Tyler said, as he started to shake, not able to contain the fear he was feeling anymore. “But… where are you taking me?”

“Polite too… I like that… well kid… depends on what you’re up for…” Chris countered, far too smugly for Tyler’s liking.

“What do you want?” Tyler asked, hoping against hope that he could get this situation back under some kind of control.

“Ha ha ha… you’ll see…” The man cackled, then said no more.

Chris was quiet for some time, as he drove them further into the woods that surrounded the town, Tyler on the other hand was scared shitless and seriously kicking himself mentally for getting into this situation. Then when he’d heard the sound of the door locks engaging, Tyler near jumped right through the windscreen. Though they weren’t really that loud, the overall situation had such a strange scary feeling, that it seemed to be amplifying every little sound in that van. After another stretch of time had passed, Chris finally pulled the van over onto the side of the small road they’d been traveling on. Now with the engine switched off, he turned in his seat to look the boy over and once seeing the fear he’d instilled, he smiled.

“As much as I want too… I’m not going to fuck you Tyler… not yet anyway…” Chris said evenly.

“Then… why…?” Tyler started to ask, almost overwhelmed by fear.

“Look kid… just shut up for a minute… I know you’re scared and trust me… that’s a really good thing right now… but I also know you’re smart… you’ve been around… maybe not here, but you have been around… so let me tell you how this is gonna play out.”

Looking the boy over again, from head to toe, Chris could see how tense he was, like a coiled spring ready to let loose. Though he didn’t look like much of a fighter, Chris had been here many times before and knew how desperate scared people could be, he knew how dangerous they could be too. Because of that, he picked his next words very carefully so as not to truly traumatize the boy, any more than he had already of course.

“The way I see it kid, is you have two options… first, I can take you back to that dive where I picked you up and you can pack up your shit and leave town… and trust me here too, I will know if you haven’t and that won’t be at all pleasant… or, you can listen to what I have to say… either way you’ll be ok, I promise you that… it’s your choice, but make it now.”

“Yeah… ok… I’ll listen…” Tyler agreed, a little of his normal bravado was back again, and he desperately tried to sound like he was doing the guy a favor, even though it was completely the other way around.

“Good boy… I knew you were a smart kid as soon as I laid eyes on you… so here it is… I don’t know how it works in other towns and I really don’t give a fuck either, but in my town… and this is my town as far as you’re concerned… I run the show.” Chris stated, before pausing to let that sink in. Once he was sure he had Tyler’s complete attention he continued. “All the boys in this town work for me and there aren’t that many… because I don’t allow strays like you to crawl the streets stirring up trouble and the public interest… understand?”

Tyler nodded his head, he was starting to get a grasp of what may be on offer, and the fear he’d been feeling started to drip away a little. Chris didn’t seem to keen on just the nod as acceptance and sat there waiting for a real response, so Tyler simply said…

“Yes sir.”

“Good!… my partners and I have this town sown up pretty tight and we’ve got a good thing going, so trust me again when I say… we aren’t gonna let anything fuck that up!… now then… this is what I’m offering you kid and this is a real good deal straight up and down for someone like you, believe me… you come to work for me, you get a room and a comfortable bed… you get regular meals and an education…”

“What…?” Tyler said, stunned by what he’d just heard.

“Last bit gotcha, huh?” Chris replied. “It’s true though… we take care of our boys… if they’re good boys that is and by that I mean, as long as you do what you’re fucking told!… so what about it kid?”

Not seeing much option, Tyler agreed,so Chris started the van, turned around and headed back towards town. When they got to where they were going, Tyler saw that they were out in the suburbs, complete with large trees lining the roads. Though he still didn’t really have any clue as to where they were, he thought briefly that one or two of the roads they’d traveled to get there seemed somewhat familiar. To be fair, Tyler had pretty much thought that the guy had been all bullshit, but when they turned onto a side-road, before pulling off into the car-park of what appeared to be a small mansion, he started to rethink his position. As it turned out, the place belonged to a local rich benefactor, who’d given it over to the town to be used as a boys home, the guy that ran the place however, had seen another very unique opportunity.

Chris led the boy inside, where he took him immediately to see the manager, who interrogated the boy fairly heavily on his past and experience, before laying out what was expected of him if he stayed. Tyler was told that anything he needed would be provided for him, but anything that he wanted, he would have to work for. He was also told, that things were pretty lax around the place, that the boys could come and go as they pleased during school holidays, as well as during the school year within reason. He made it a point to tell Tyler, that it was mandatory to attend classes when he had them and that he was to make himself available when required and that if he failed to do so, the consequences were not at all pleasant. The manager then went on to describe in intricate detail what it was that was expected of him, which was primarily what he’d been doing for some time anyway, but there was also pictures and movies, that he hadn’t expected and was definitely not so sure about.

Tyler was then taken to the home’s personal physician, where he was thoroughly checked over and documented. After that was the store room, where he was given a few sundry items for the bathroom, some linens and bedspreads for his bed and a prepaid cell phone, which he was told he’d be issued credit for when needed. By the end of that day, Chris had taken him to the campground where he picked up his belongings and by the time they’d gotten back, he had been signed in as the newest attendee of the Twin Lakes Home for Boys. After all he’d been through, Tyler was exhausted, so he was shown to his room. It was there where he met the boy that would be his roommate, his name was Scott and Tyler’s heart skipped a beat when he saw him. Scott was fourteen, about five and half feet, athletically slim like a skateboarder, which of course he was, and blond. Over the next few days, the boys got very close, as they learned about each other’s past and Tyler was startled to find out that their pasts were very similar. That’s probably what really drew them together in the end.

For the rest of that summer, the two boys were near inseparable, except when they were working that is. Scott took great pains in teaching Tyler how to skate properly, he also acted as sort of a mentor, with both the work they had to do for the home and of that which they had to do for themselves. Although the majority of the boys work was regulated through the home, to which they received a small commission, there were some places around the town, that the boys were allowed to go. This of course was so that they could find their own clientele, that money was theirs to keep, as long as they were discreet. It was these places that Scott introduced to young Tyler over the summer, and where the pair of them made quite a decent trade, before returning to the home where they’d sleep together in a very loving embrace.

The skate park just on the outskirts of town was their regular place, they’d spend hours there if they could and there was always business to be had there. Sometimes it was with boys mostly their own age or a little older, but mostly it was with the older guys that hung around the park, making their intentions very well known. It was at that place where Tyler’s world ended and his heart seemed to be irrevocably broken again. About three months into the school year, they’d gone to the park after classes, they’d both just wanted to skate the afternoon away. But when a hot looking young guy came up to Scott, the proposition was too good to refuse, especially since he needed the money to get his boyfriend, because that’s what they were, a gift. Tyler had had a bad feeling about it right from the start, but Scott went anyway, telling Tyler to wait and that he wouldn’t be long. The local Sheriffs department found Scott’s body the next day, naked and mutilated, the word FAG carved deeply into his chest.

Tyler was never the same after that, especially after he found out that the cops weren’t doing anything to solve the murder. Oh sure, he still did what he had to do, still tricked for stray cash, but he never got close to another boy. He also still frequented the skate park, still skated and even still tricked there. The other boys at the home thought he was nuts, but what they didn’t realize was that Tyler knew exactly what he was doing. He was there for two reasons, one was that he was hoping he could somehow meet that same trick again, maybe get some revenge, or at least be able to join his boy wherever you go after you die. And the other was that, that place was the only place he could even come close to enjoying it, thinking that it could be Scott that was doing it to him and not some random guy. Sadly though, it never was and never would be again, Tyler knew that, that’s why he was always so angry and depressed afterwards, still didn’t stop him though.

Everyday after school and even on weekends, when he didn’t have to be somewhere else, that’s where you would find him and that’s where the now fourteen year old Tyler was now. Two weeks out from summer break, bent over and scuffing his knees and elbows on the rough concrete under the half-pipe, hidden from sight by some bushes, the sounds he was making muffled by the continuous roar of plastic wheels on wood. It wasn’t him, his current trick looked like a salesman, sweaty old and fat, with a gold band around his finger. Tyler was almost disgusted, when the guy handed over the hundred, never in his life had it been so quick. Even then he didn’t really care, because the depression was starting to kick in. But before he started to cry, he managed to pull his pants up, snuggle back against the wall and pull his knees into his chest. It was very dangerous for Tyler when he was like that, because in order to cope, he just completely shut down. That’s probably why he didn’t notice he had company that afternoon, until he’d managed to pull himself together enough to get up and start again.

“What the fuck do you want?!” Tyler near yelled startled, finally looking into the most strikingly beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen.

WOAH!!!! Hold on. If I recall correctly, which I can since it’s right there, I never said anything about the wait. Just the emotional rollercoaster that will be the death of me. As I’ve stated, cliffhangers suck. But they work. And I don’t blame Oct for using them. I will however blame him for making us wait even longer, just because of that. Don’t make me fly half way across the world!

Guess I’ll just have to drag Kevin with me to New Zealand (even though their mascot is named after a fruit!) You DO have “sea legs”, don’t you Kevin? I suppose I wouldn’t have been as harsh if you didn’t leave us with a green-eyed cliff hanger!

I just wanted say I really like your story a lot and I still read it. I don’t know what this has to do with the story you already have. But I did like what you wrote. I will wait and see how this goes. Thanks

OMG this was in April that means 2 left for May and the first half of June Good grief I will be waiting wityh the rest what will I do , Oh whoa is me what shall I do! Well I do have the great Caribbean sea a mile from home so guess it may be beach time in two chapters
good Writing!